A preliminary access agreement has been reached between the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company and the State of Colorado that may lead to the infrastructure construction of a 180-mile-long passenger rail line.
As envisioned, the line would connect the cities of Fort Collins to the north and Pueblo to the south and would see the building of new railroad tracks or the upgrading of existing infrastructure.
The project has been long in the talking stage with voters in Denver in 2004 giving their approval to what was billed as a $4.7 billion transit plan to be supported by 0.4% sales and use tax.
What is being officially called the Front Range Passenger Rail will include stops in Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and smaller cities in between.
The access agreement between the rail company and Colorado centers on both the stops as well as the daily frequency of the service.
It is thought that it will cost around $333 million to build and upgrade the needed track infrastructure, a price tag that also includes the installation of sidings and switches.
Meanwhile, efforts have been underway to reduce the price tag of the project. In an interview with CPR News, Lisa Kaufmann, senior strategic advisor to Colorado Governor Jared Polis, remarked of the planned station stops: “Where taxpayers have already paid for large structures, we placed the platforms within walking distance to those.” Earlier estimates predicted that work on the project could launch next year with the line operable sometime in 2029.
April 14, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
